That was Michigan star offensive tackle Taylor Lewan at that same event, declaring “all I have known at Michigan is failure.”

“I think people might think I regret my decision to come back for my senior season,” Lewan said this week.

He says he doesn’t, but how could he not?

Michigan has gone from a sleeper pick in the national title chase, to likely finishing fifth in its six-team division. Hoke has gone from the Michigan Man who can return the program to glory, to the coach who may not make it past December.

And just when it looks like it can’t possibly get worse for the team that could be in much worse shape this season were it not for some fortuitous breaks, big, bad bitter rival Ohio State rolls into Ann Arbor needing style points in the BCS National Championship race.

The same Ohio State that has won 23 straight games since Urban Meyer arrived two years ago. The same Ohio State that has squeezed all hope from the rest of the Big Ten.

“I am very confident that we can win, or we wouldn’t play,” Hoke said. “I’d call down there to Columbus and say that we won’t do it.”

That might not be a bad idea after all.

This Michigan team has been so woefully inept on offense; so awfully inconsistent on defense; so unthinkably outcoached week after week, it’s a wonder they’ve won seven games this fall.

Let’s not forget that Michigan was a play away (at the goal line) from losing to Akron. Or that it needed a second half comeback to beat UConn. Or that it needed three overtimes to beat Northwestern, which gave the game away in regulation.

The further away we get from Hoke’s first season in Ann Arbor that ended with a Sugar Bowl victory, the more this program looks like what Rich Rodriguez left—only completely turned around.

Rodriguez’s teams couldn’t play a lick of defense, but could score on anyone. Hoke’s teams are painful to watch offensively, but have played well defensively at times.

Now the most dangerous aspect of the Hoke tenure is upon us: Michigan shouldn’t be worried about playing to a standard or living up to a burden. The Wolverines should be more focused on the growing beast in Columbus.

Not only are the Buckeyes winning, Meyer and his staff have locked down recruiting in the Midwest on the eve of the two longtime rivals moving into the same division beginning with the 2014 season. It has gotten so bad, “little brother” Michigan State has won five of the last six against Michigan—despite being annually out-recruited by the Wolverines (hello, coaching).

Finally, there is this: Jabrill Peppers, a top five national recruit, said this week that although he is still committed to Michigan, he has opened up his recruitment. This comes less than two weeks after Da’Shawn Hand, the nation’s No. 1 recruit who was considered a lock for Michigan, committed to Alabama.

A program that three years ago held so much promise is now perceived to be bleeding out.

“With the rumors about Coach Hoke possibly not being there, I need to make sure that I have options and have seen other places,” Peppers said on his Twitter feed.

Look, a university should never make program-defining decisions based on one or two recruits or even an entire recruiting class. The right coach is more important than missing one player or one class.

But the idea that Hoke is under pressure to win—don’t kid yourself, he certainly is—can create uncertainty throughout the team and develop tentacles reaching other unintended areas outside the program. It’s a vicious, damaging cycle.

The only way to change it is to win—and Michigan looks as far away from that possibility in this rivalry than it has in more than a decade.

“Is the goal always to win the Big Ten championship? No question about it,” Hoke said. “And we won’t make excuses nor back down from it.”